2015 Reading Survey

December 16, 2015

Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner has this amazing end of year reading survey and is encouraging others to join in with a linkup! I loved reading hers so much I thought i’d give it a shot! All questions and graphics headers are hers!

Number Of Books You Read: 30! I did it!Number of Re-Reads: If Beowulf and MacBeth count then i’ll count them. I almost feel like I shouldn’t since I teach them! But other than that I tried to stay away from re-reads this year.Genre You Read The Most From: YA High Fantasy which was the best!!!

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

Queen of Shadows!!! Y’all Sarah J. Maas can do no wrong as far as i’m concerned. This was book 4 of a 7 book series and I started the book wondering how the heck the series wasn’t ending with this book and you guys she threw SO MUCH at us! Not only that but she freaks me out with how well she weaves plots together and drops breadcrumb clues through the entire series. She’s one of those authors who is such an architect it’s intimidating.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Read Queen by Victoria Aveyard. It was okay. I’ll continue the series. BUT I think this was a victim of over-hyping. I only found out after I read it that it was optioned as a movie before it was even finished being written and then the huge blitz and build up made a lot more sense. The story was just a rehash of every popular YA Dystopia trope out there and there were some really great opportunities for expansion that she just didn’t take. It is her debut novel though and because of that i’m hopeful the sequel will be better.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I haven’t met anyone who read FanGirl that will tell you the fanfic excerpts were their favorite parts. As such I wasn’t sure how excited i’d be about the execution of Carry On. I was stoked about the concept because I love meta stuff, but this book delivered in a way that I wasn’t expecting. As far as stories go, it was a solid 3. As far as love letters to the importance of fan fiction and inside jokes/validations of my youth go though 1 million out of 5. I sincerely don’t think she set out to write a great story. I mean it was good, it was fine. I think what she really wanted to do was have fun, poke fun, and validate and she TOTALLY did that. I keep reading reviews written by people who don’t really ‘get it’ and I just shake my head at those people and laugh. I was definitely surprised with how much I loved it.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel! It was our NovelTea Book Club pick and as soon as I read it I knew I needed my students to read it. So I put it as one of our choice reads for our first choice unit of the year and talked it up like crazy. I’m proud to say I got quite a few students to read it and those that did LOVED it. Definitely the most successful book on that list in terms of kids actually reading it and liking it!

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. So frigging stoked about this series. I can’t wait for Misty and Fury!

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Erika Johansen. I’ve only read Queen of the Tearling but I can’t wait to get my hands on more by her!

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Bees by Laline Paull. Okay so technically I read a lot of dystopia so I don’t know if this really counts so if not definitely The Girl on The Train. I don’t read realistic adult mystery thrillers so this was way out of my comfort zone but i’m really glad I did it.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Queen of Shadows. The book is huge and I read it in two days. Week days. During the work week. DONE.

9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

I don’t really like to re-read honestly so I probably won’t re-read any unless I read Station Eleven again with my students.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz. It’s a freaking drawing! SO good!

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Such a good cast of characters!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger. It was all prose and it was gorgeous.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

oooh ummm I don’t really read LIFE CHANGING stuff too often. So pass?

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read?

The Night Circus! I’ve been meaning to read it for so long and I can’t believe it took me until this summer to read it!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Longest: Queen of Shadows. 648 pages.

Shortest: Take it as a Compliment. 100 pages.

How I did this: Went to my read books on Goodreads and sorted by page number and just looked for what I knew I read this yeaer that was the shortest and longest.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Queen of Shadowsssss!!! Can you tell this book rocked my whole world. FRIGGIN PLOT TWISTS Y’ALL!

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Aelin and Rowan from Queen of Shadows. 5ever.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Simon Snow and Penelope Bunce from Carry On. Best friends.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Same world, different genre. Loved it!

21. Best Book You Read In 2015That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Night Circus. My co-worker/friend LOVES this book and I finally got around to reading it after she kept recommending it. So good!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

Rhysand. Because i’m a lame.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. So much better than I was expecting too! I can’t wait for the sequel.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. Hartman is a hoss at world building and that continued in this conclusion to Seraphina.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

The Bees! It was just SO. COOL.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

Queen of Shadows. Again. For everything.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

A History of Glitter and Blood. This book does not get enough credit.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Queen of the Tearling because it is so overwhelming and the main is so well written you can feel her emotions.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

The Bees! Took the mundane and made it fantastic. I loved every page.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Take it as a Compliment. Freaking ouch.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

I was pretty lame on the finding new book blogs this year. Book instagrams however: akangaru, teaconjurer, radiantreads_, beanreading. Love them all!

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

Seeing Neil Gaiman in November. Hands down one of the best parts of this whole year.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?

When Jess moved to Katy and I forced her to be my irl bestie. SUCCESS!

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Motivation. For both blogging and reading. I have a hard time convincing myself to do things I know I like and will make me feel better. I don’t know if it’s the depression or just who I am as a person. Shrug emoji.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I get $25 worth of used books at our local bookstore for my classroom library sooooo that’s pretty cool.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?\

I’m still 2 books off right now but i’m almost done with 4 books so I can check the 30 book Goodreads Challenge goal off of my list!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. Lots of Non-fiction actually.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?

A Court of Mist and Fury!!!

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I have an arc of it that i’m working through right now so I don’t know if anticipation is the right word but it’s great.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?

Both Sarah J. Maas series have new books coming out next year and i’m pumped!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

I’m going to set a high bar for myself and say 50 books. I am setting my goodreads goal at 40 so I can feel accomplished if I reach it but my personal goal is 50.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. It’s a debut but i’m halfway through it and so far it’s pretty great! I don’t think i’ll finish before year end because i’m working through 3 other books as well but I definitely recommend it.

Tags!

I’m going to tag anyone who wants to do this but i’m especially tagging Jess because she read a million and a half books this year and her survey will probably be less repetitive than mine.

Related Posts

Love this! Found a bunch of books I want to read now because of your post! I got Sleeping Giants from NetGalley and I’m so excited to read it! I’m saving it for the new year, but it sounds sooooo good!
~Sara